LIVE YOUR VALUES

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Book Review: Seventh Son--Tales of the Alvin Maker

Author: Orson Scott Card

Pages: 241

Genre: Fiction/Fantasy

Personal Rating: 4/5


Come fall in love with a magical America that might have been…

This is written on the front cover and is what first captured my attention. The Seventh Son is the first book in a series. It is mainly an introduction and probably a “set up” for the books that will be following. The main character is Alvin Jr. He is the seventh son, of a seventh son. This somehow holds extreme importance (for the boy). He is what several people think of as a “Maker”. This is somewhat explained but I’m sure will come into play in later books. He is capable of “seeing” things slightly different and is therefore able to do things/make things just a little better. We are also briefly introduced to something (not a person) called the Unmaker. It seems that Alvin will struggle with the Unmaker for a long time.

Most of the story is spent introducing and developing characters who have wonderful names like Taleswapper, and Thrower. Alvin Jr. has brothers named Wastenot and Wantnot, Calm and Measure. You are also able to figure out that the story is taking place in an America that is slightly different than the frontier America we are familiar with. Here folklore, myth and magic are realities. Traditional religion seems like it will also have a role to play.

I’m not doing this book justice with my review. I can say that I did want to go and pick up the next one right away but I’m making myself wait and read a few other books first.

3 comments:

Jeane said...

I gave this series a try several years ago, and didn't really care for the mixture of magic with religion. For some reason it bothered me, and I haven't approached Card's Alvin books since. I love many of his other works, though.

Stephanie said...

This is on my list to read for the Card Challenge. I have Ender's Game sitting here next to me just WAITING to be read!!

Juli said...

I've heard good things about Ender's Game. Maybe i should add it to my list.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...